Crinoline Robot's Vintage Week

Right! Time for a roundup of all the little bits and bobs I've been up to that don't deserve their own post. First, something that did deserve its own post, but got it over on Greedybots: on Sunday I made a couple of dishes from the 1959 cookbook Fun With Food. While the results didn't wow me, they did turn out rather nicer than I'd anticipated, and you can read my musings here. (Sorry for the lack of 1960s plates, I own no period-appropriate ones.) I'll definitely be trying some more recipes out of the book in future.

I've finally cast on It Cannot Fail To Please, and so far have been very pleased with the progress... After working on a fiddly fair isle for months, it's super to have something simple to knit in front of the telly. And, indeed, to use up some of my yarn stash. It seems to be growing at a decent rate, though I have been sidetracked by books. I need to get my knit together, though, as my little brother (39 this year and six feet tall!) is going to become a daddy, and I'm planning to knit a cuddly Gene Hunt for the nipper, based on the Camberwick Green Gene. I've wanted to make one for literally months. I'd be tempted to get one of those voice thingies to put in it, but it'll probably be too small, and I doubt my brother or his girlfriend will appreciate it if their child grows up bellowing, “Oi, Bolly Knickers!” at everyone. Jumper first, though, then the Gene Genie.

Something is on its way in the mail... a little Carter's Steam Fair lorry. I love Carters, with its amazing collection of fully-restored steam-powered rides, so Papa Robot snapped a toy one up when he saw it, and told me he'd post it to me. I try not to acquire too many purely decorative objects nowadays, but this is brilliant and I'm definitely going to find space for it. The fair is coming back to Bath in August, and you can bet your boots we'll be going. If you're in the London area/south-east, check their website to see where they'll be. They don't tend to get much beyond that (Bath is one of the furthest destinations on their schedule) as the whole show is transported on a working fleet of vintage lorries, so they steer clear of hilly places.

A new dress is also winging its way to me: a 1960s Horrockses. Vix blogged about her latest finds for Kinky Melon, I enthused about the dress, and she said it might be in my size. It sounds like it is, so I bought it. It's turquoise and white, with short sleeves and a scarf-tie neck, so very, very me. Photos to come as long as it fits!

On which note, are you bored of your winter clothes yet? I am starting to get fed up of mine. I'm already considering what to take to Spain later in the year, and it's really making me long to get my summery dresses out of the wardrobe. (I will, of course, welcome all my current winter clothes as beloved old friends when I get them out again next winter, I just need a break from them for a few months.) I'm more than ready for warm days, sunshine, and things growing in the garden. It's going to be hilarious to see Ziggy chasing butterflies. He goes loopy for flies and woodlice as it is, so butterflies will send him into a frenzy.